Unidirectional driving mechanism



G. WALKER UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING MECHANI SM Nov. 19, 1929.

Filed March l. 1926 patented Nov. 19, 1929 l snaren sfr GEOIE y'W'ALXER, GE NWLQN MSEACHUEETTS UNIDIBEGTIONL @EME-T@ ECHMESE Application inea marca a, ieee. sensi are. aisee.

peet is intended to be used in ships instruments of the type which form the subjectmatter of the copending application of George Walker, Serial N o. 722,942, filed Deo cember 10, 1924, being designed continually to operate the distance registering device in a forward direction in response to propeller movement in either direction., This invention further relates to the combination of mechanism of the type described above with a signaling device adapted to indicate the direction of propeller shaft' movement at a distance from the same, certain aspects of this signaling device bein applicable in other installations than in' e combination herein disclosed.

Heretofore it has` been common in ships instruments, cyclometers, speedometers etc., to have the register register in response to movement of a shaft, wheel etc. in one direction only, many of these devices being provided with overrunnin clutches or equivalent devices to permit t e movement of the shaft, wheel or the like in a reverse direction without affecting the registering mechanism.

While the mechanism disclosed in the present case is intended more particularly for use in ships instruments wherein registering means is actuated by propeller shaft movement with a degree of responsiveness dependent upon both the speed and number of propeller revolutions, mechanism of this character maybe generally used in instruments for indicating or recording in response to either the speed or number of revolutions of the rotatable member.

The above and further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon areading of the subjoined description and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in

t. which:

Fig. l is an elevational view of the mechanism forming the subject matter of this invention, the wiring invthis gure being diagrammatically represented;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the gearing illustrated inI Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detail elevational view; u

Figs.v 4 and 5 are top plan views of the gearing and related arts in different positions;

Fig. 6 is a si e view of the indicator, and

Fig. 7 is a detail view.

As described in the copending application identified above, the form of my invention shown herewith for purposes of illustration is provided with a gear 1 operatively connected with the propeller shaft and therefore adapted to change its direction of rotation in response to a similar action of that member. Ad] oiningthe gear 1 is the pivotally mounted arm 2 which carries the meshed gears 3 and 4, the latter in turn being engaged with the gear 1. At one side of the arm 2 is located a gear 70 V 6, the various gears andthe arm being so arranged that rotation of the gear 1 in the direction indicated by the full arrow will rotate the other gears in the directions indicated by the full arrows adjoining them, the thrust of the meshed gears tending to hold the arm 2 in a position wherein gear 4 will be meshed with-gear 6. Thus it is evident that when the gear l is turning in the direction of the full arrow, the gear 6 will be'turned in a similar w direction by means of gear 4. However, upon a reversal of the direction of rotation of gear 1, the thrust upon the gear 4 swings the latter out of engagement with gear 6 and throws gear 3 into engagement with pear 6 so that g5 the latter -is still rotated ina orward direction although gear 1 is turning in an oppfsite direction from that previously descri It is to be understood that the gear 6 is adapted to rotater a suitable shaft 7 ,which is 90 connected with the distance indicatingl means of a ships instrument, or the like, in w ich the present apparatus may be incorporated, said shaft being ada ted to turn 4the registering mechanism of t at instrument continually forward in response to propeller movement in either direction.

Mounted between the hubs 8 and 9 of gears 8 and 4 res ectively is a spring 10 having the substantial y semi-'circular portions'll fric- 10e .tionally engaging these hubs due' to the resilience of the spring in order to revent free rotation of the gears 3 and 4 w en they are freed from engagement with gear 6, or, in

other words, the spring 10 acts as a frictional brake upon the gears in order to facilitate their ready enga ement with gear 6 when the arm 2 is swung rom one position to another. Thus by virtue of the friction brake the arm 2 is always thrown from one extreme position to the other when the gear 1 reverses, whereas if the gears 3 and 4v turned freely on their axes the rocker arm might not reverse when gear reverses or if the arm should start to reverse due to the resistance offered by gear 6 it might stop in mid position as soon as one of the gears 3 or 4 is thrown out of mesh with gear 6 and before the other gear 4 or 3 is thrown into mesh with gear 6, in which case 20. the mechanism controlled byl gear 6 would be operatively disconnected from the gear 1.

Suitably mounted upon the ends of arm 2 are the insulator blocks 38 the outer surfaces of which are given a curvature having a ra` dius substantially equal to their distance from the pivot point of ar 2. The transverse contacts 39 are embed d in the insulator blocks 38 at either end of' the arm 2 but at the same side thereof (gj 3). A pair of resilient brushes 14 nor a ly have their ends retained inengagement with an outer'surface of one of the members 38, (Figs. 4and 5). The contact 39 upon member 38 is adapted to form an electrical connection between the brushes 14 when the arm is in ,one position, as for example when it is in the position illustrated in Fig-5 corresponding to the reverse movement of the propeller shaft. Brushes 14 are interposed in an electrical circuit (Fig. 1), which is connected with an electro-magnet 17 disposed beneath the indicator designated generally by the numeral 20. This indicator comprises a conveniently mounted fixed frame 18 pivotally supporting an open frame 21 which comprises a lower cross bar 22 provided with upwardly extending legs 23 which are pivotall supported near their upper ends. U -on one ace of the frame 21 is secured a suitably formed sheet metal member 24 which is bent to have the form indicated in Fig. 6 having its outer end provided with the surfaces 25 and 26 at an angle to each other and having suitable symbols or indicia thereon such as the words Ahead and Astern. Members 21 and 24 are so designed that they are normally retained by gravity in the position shown in the full line of Fig. 6 and are swim to the position indicated by the dot and dash ines by energization of magnet 17, the bar 22 acting as an armature for the same. Suitable stops 28 and 29 limit pivotal movement of members 21 and 24 in either direction. In use, the indicator 20 is adapted to be located within a separate compartment or within the distance registering instrument Laaste-1.4

face 26 located in direction registration with' an opening 27 which ma be provided with a trans arent window so t at movement of the mem r 24 will cause either surface 25 or surface 26 to be visible through the opening 27 In the operation of my device it is 'to be understood that rotation of the propeller shaft in. a reverse direction imparts movement ina similar direction tov the gear 1, thereby swinging the arm 2--to a osition wherein the bar 39 forms an 'electrica circuit by means of contacting with the brushes 14, thus serving to energize the electro-magnet 17. The electro-magnet when energized serves to draw the bar 22 to the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 6 lifting the panel 26 to a position where itis in registration with window 27. Chan e in direction of rotation of the propeller s aft will then cause arm 2 to swiii to its full line position as indicated in ig. 1, thereby opening the switch and permitting the action of gravity to swin frame 22 to its lowered osition so that A ead is indicated throug opening 27. Meanwhile gear 6 has been continuously rotated in one direction by either gear 3 or gear 4 and the dampening effect of spring 10 has served to facilitate meshin of these gears and consequently has aided t e accurate recording by the instrument.

Provision of similar members 38 with contacts 39 at either end of the arm 2 is advantageous since it permits the interchangingv of the ends of that member, gears 3 and 4 also preferably being interchangeable so that in certain cases the contact bars 39 may be located-adjoining the gear 6 rather than at the opposite side of the arm. Such an arrangement is useful since in different installations the gear 1 may either be connected to the propeller shaft so that it will. rotate in the same direction ,as the latter or in an opposite direction, thereto. By the provision of a member 2 having contacts at either end but upon the same side mere interchanging of the ends of the arm will suiiice to form an adjustment to take care of such differences in installation of the device.

While the mechanism and allied indicating apparatus disclosed herewith has been described specically for use together in a ships instrument, it is of course apparent that they may be used separately, that other suitable means may be substituted for the arm 2 in certain installations or that the mechanism may be applied to uses quite dilferent from those connected'with the ships instrument.

I claim:

1. A device designed accurately to impart rotative movement of a member in either direction to a rotatable element movable in only one direction, said device comprising a swinging arm, 'a pair of meshed gears mounted thereupon, and a third gear, said ioo medoc@ arm being swingable from one position to another upon reversal of movement of the mem ber whereby one or the other of the meshed gears are adapted to engage the third gear in accordance with the position of the arm, and brake means to prevent the free rotation of the meshed gears as the arm is swung from one position to the other.

2. The subject matter of claim l further characterized :by the fact that said bre-ke means comprise at least one segmental surface resiliently held in engagement with a cylindrical surface upon one o seid gears Signed by me at Boston, B/asssehusetlsi this twenty-third da cflebruery, lg

J EORGE WALKER 

